How big of Rock

[OnHoPr]

Here in MI we have HAP properties (Hunter Access Program) in the southern portion of the state. Monies from licences goes to leasing various farm and wooded properties for those property owners who wish to enter the program. I have hunted these Hap's since the 70's. Every once in a while when walking through a worked field a see a rock and pick it up and carry it to the edge of the field. Usually they are about hardball to grapefruit size, though I have seen them slightly bigger. Could the size of these rocks be harmful to the farmers disc and drag or any other type of machinery that the farmer might use? Or, how big of rock can damage the farmers equipment? Most of the fields are corn, sometimes soy beans, sometimes dormant for a year. They do grow carrots, potatoes, onions, and sugar beets in these general areas but, I have yet to encounter them on one of the HAP's.

[x101airborne]

Depends on the size of the equip. We use a finers disc for leveling ground as we do not row crop. Typically, I pick up most anything that I can readily see from the tractor. Anything that strikes the blade directly on the edge will, or can, cause damage. Small rocks will roll and shift under the weight of the disc, but the bigger ones can take a big ole chunk out of the blade. For me I would say if you remove anything bigger than a potatoe, you are doing a service. Smaller than that, I think it is ok on the equipment.

Now a shredder is a WHOLE different story.

[rhbrink]

I hope you guys don't come to Missouri you are going to be real busy hauling rocks.

RB

[Boerrancher]

If it is close to being about the size of my fist, I make sure it doesn't stay in my fields. That is one thing that I don't think I will ever run out of is rocks in my fields. I grew up following around granddad picking up rocks out of the fields, and continue to do so. I think that is the curse of every generation in this valley, picking up rocks out of the fields. We have been packing rocks out of the fields here since before the white part of the family arrived. Every rock you remove from a farmer's field is a help no matter what the size. Keep up the good work, I would be grateful if everyone who walked across my fields would pack a rock or two with them to the edge.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Wayne Smith]

Grew up on a farm in Maine. Every spring we picked rocks. Dad told us to pick up anything the size of our fists or larger. I was probably five or six when he told me that, so my fist wasn't very big!

[waksupi]

They can certainly break a disc blade. It seems we were always picking rocks. The nice thing about that, you always had a fresh crop each spring, as the frost would heave up a fresh crop every winter.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Oh the joys of filling a stone boat early in the morning before breakfast and using those weights to fill in the errosion cut runoffs. SW Michigan had all sorts of joys popping up every springtime.
I also grab a few and toss them out of the way where I hunt. Just seems the right thing to do.
Mike in ILL

[Bob Krack]

A "stone boat" in modern times, in many places is an old automobile hood turned upside down so as to resemble a super wide tapered ski or toboggan, if you will. Usually pulled by horse, small tractor and sometimes by manpower.

Good post.

Bob

[waksupi]

One benefit of picking rocks, you are looking at the ground, and find arrow heads!

[bootsnthejeep]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuPsgJrIynU

One of my favorite authors. Wisconsin has as much of a bumper crop of rocks as we do here in Maine.

[wgr]

Here in southern indiana, we are in lime stone country. We grow rocks

[cdet69]

When I was working out in Norhteast PA during the summer I use to see the kids picking up rocks. they would be filling up the back of a wagon and took turns driving the tractor. One way to spend summer vacation. But I sure bet it built good working values.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

The other day I was thinking about how nice it would be to have enough rocks on the farm to build a dry stack wall. Then I slapped myself! My pasture is the smoothest bottomland soil you have ever seen. I could probably count the rocks I've pulled on my fingers, and the largest was not much bigger than a golf ball.

[rockrat]

You are lucky then!!

On Grandads farm in Oklahoma, no rocks, but around here, in the spring, a bumper crop.

[OnHoPr]

A "stone boat" in modern times, in many places is an old automobile hood turned upside down so as to resemble a super wide tapered ski or toboggan, if you will. Usually pulled by horse, small tractor and sometimes by manpower.

Good post.

Bob

Never heard the term before, but use the same apparatus with a snow machine for hauling fire wood out of the woods in the winter time in northern MI.

[blackthorn]

We used our "stone boat" for rocks in spring and summer and for hauling the barn cleanings to the maure pile in winter. It was a 5'x6' wooden platform with steel runners underneath, pulled by one horse or two depending on the weight of the load.

[starbits]

One benefit of picking rocks, you are looking at the ground, and find arrow heads!

Until the last 20 years or so more meteorites were found by farmers clearing their fields than any other group.

Starbits

[RED333]

Good Lord this is bring back the memory's.
Did a LOT of rock picking and hauling,
Dad had 2 row corn picker that did not like rocks at all.
It would spit them out for 30 feet if it pick it just right.
Hay cutter was a bear to fix teeth in, dad-burn rocks!

[williamwaco]

I haven't farmed since before 1980.

If I was still farming, I would want YOU hunting on my property.

[KCSO]

Our John Deere B had a rock box on it and before i was old enought to drive it I got to walk alongside and pick up rocks. At one time we had a pile of rocks as big as a pickup truck piled in a draw. I was always going to make a fireplace from the rocks. Our rules wer that if it was fist size or bigger it went in the box. Our biggest problem was with cultivator shovels hitting the rocks and snapping the wooden break away pins.

[Wayne Smith]

Wooden breakaway pins? Dad's were spring loaded, I think.

[armexman]

Is the reason you have bumper crops of rocks in Spring, because the rock plant grows in winter at your latitude???? or is it due to the fertility of glacial deposit soils???

[oneokie]

Is the reason you have bumper crops of rocks in Spring, because the rock plant grows in winter at your latitude???? or is it due to the fertility of glacial deposit soils???

No, they reproduce/multiply/propogate during the winter.

[blackthorn]

If you catch them when they are small you can tame them into "pet rocks"!!!

[Wayne Smith]

If you catch them when they are small you can tame them into "pet rocks"!!!

Only to very gullible people!

Although I do remember finding several full furn fossils while picking up pieces of slate. They would split open, there they were. No value then, huge now.

[OnHoPr]

If you catch them when they are small you can tame them into "pet rocks"!!!

Good, then you don't have to bend over and pick them up and carry them out of the field. They can walk out themselves. Or, maybe the farmers could put neon signs along the fence line with "Hard Rock Cafe" on them.

[472x1B/A]

Imagine a $200,000.00 John Deer combine going down through a soybean field at about 4-6 mph with the bean head 3-4 inches off the ground. Ok, now farmer Bill is trying to watch a 32-40 foot bean head and not miss any beans on the outside strip. He doesn't see that football size rock that's out there in the field all alone. The bean head picks it up, augers it to the gather chute and into the beater drum. I've seen rocks the size of softballs do as much $12,000.00 damage to combines.
A farmer near here ran a power pole anchor into his bean head and it cost him $9000.00 to have it repaired. So, yes rocks and other asssorted items on the field floors can and will damage ALL farm machinery one way or another.